by David Graham

Scotch Movies

I like to see the old couple sitting

in their garage right on Route 23

with the door up, facing traffic

on a warm June day, newspaper unread,

as if we were the interesting ones

in our dog-to-the-vet station wagons,

our UPS vans so faithfully frantic,

first-gear dumptrucks groaning with gravel,

when the Mystery itself

has set up its twin folding chairs

in the dusky, oil-scented air,

iced tea slowly warming on a card table

between them, maybe a radio on soft

in the empty kitchen behind.  I like

to believe they speak at long intervals

about how the tomatoes are doing,

heat beginning to ripple the haze

over the highway, through which we plunge

with our designer coffee, our kids in car seats,

clutch of DVDs to return to the store

where they have never been, our couple

nodding like trees at the edge of the wind.

--from Poet's Corner:  Summer.  Ed. Anny Ballardini.  Published July 2009.